Chronological transition of necropsy cases of animals in Tokyo, Japan

There is no nationwide necropsy database of animals in Japan, and most of the records are available from the postwar period. To clarify the chronological transition of animal necropsy cases in Tokyo, Japan, the records accumulated in The University of Tokyo from 1902 were investigated. Of necropsy r...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Veterinary Medical Science 2023, Vol.85(1), pp.19-29
Main Authors: NAKAYAMA, Hiroyuki, SHIGA, Takanori, UCHIDA, Kazuyuki, CHAMBERS, James K, MORINO, Toshiya, SASAKI, Nobuo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
animal
Animals
Autopsy - history
Autopsy - statistics & numerical data
Autopsy - veterinary
Cat Diseases
Cats
cause of death
chronological transition
Dog Diseases
Dogs
Horse Diseases
Horses
Japan
Life span
Necropsy
necropsy case
Pathology
Tokyo - epidemiology
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Summary:There is no nationwide necropsy database of animals in Japan, and most of the records are available from the postwar period. To clarify the chronological transition of animal necropsy cases in Tokyo, Japan, the records accumulated in The University of Tokyo from 1902 were investigated. Of necropsy records on paper or electronic from 1902 to 2021 kept at the Laboratory of Veterinary Pathology, The University of Tokyo, totally 3,137 cases including 572 in 1903–1914 (the Meiji-Taisho period), 1,258 in 1956–1969 (the Showa period) and 1,307 in 2006–2020 (the Heisei-Reiwa period), respectively, were examined for species, breed, age and pathological diagnosis. Dogs (44.6%) and horses (34.8%) in the Meiji-Taisho period, dogs (62.9%) and cats (17.3%) in the Showa period, and dogs (46.0%), cats (26.1%) and exotic animals (20.5%) in the Heisei-Reiwa period were the most necropsied animal species. With the passage of time, the number of animal species increased, and the breeds of dogs and cats came to be more various. The median ages of death were 2 years, 3 years and 10 years old in dogs in the Meiji-Taisho, Showa and Heisei-Reiwa periods, respectively, and 2 years and 10 years old in cats in the Showa and Heisei-Reiwa periods, respectively. Viral, bacterial and parasitic infections were decreased, and inversely tumor cases increased due to the prolonged lifespan.
ISSN:0916-7250
1347-7439
DOI:10.1292/jvms.22-0456